McHenry Times

City of Marengo City Council met =April 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

CALL TO ORDER 

Mayor John Koziol called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

ROLL CALL 

Present this evening are Mayor John Koziol; Aldermen Matt Keenum, Mike Miller, Mike DeSerto, Nicole DeBoer, Dennis Hammortree, Darin Mobley, Jared Secor and Steve Mortensen. Also present are City Administrator Joshua Blakemore, Interim Chief of Police Paul Fritz, Director of Public Works Dan Streit, City Attorney David McArdle, and Finance Director Jennifer Snelten.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 

None

APPROVAL OF MINUTES – March 20, 2020 Emergency Meeting & March 26, 2020 Special Meeting 

Alderman Nicole DeBoer made a motion, seconded by Alderman Steve Mortensen, to approve the minutes from the March 20, 2020 Emergency Meeting, and the March 26, 2020 Special Meeting. The aldermen voted as follows:

Ayes: Keenum, Mortensen, DeBoer, Miller, Secor, DeSerto, Hammortree and Mobley 

Nays:

The motion passed.

APPROVAL OF LIST OF BILLS - Motion to approve the list of bills in the amount of $249,488.73 

Alderman Jared Secor made a motion, seconded by Alderman Darin Mobley, to approve the list of bills in the amount of $249,488.73. The aldermen voted as follows:

Ayes Secor, Hammortree, Mortensen, DeBoer, Miller, Mobley, DeSerto and Keenum 

Nays: 

The motion passed.

NEW BUSINESS

a. Motion to Approve a Variation Request to allow for Section 25.21 of the Marengo Municipal Code, Use of Water Facilities Required, for 19809 E. Grant Highway High Hopes Farms owners, Rachel Peck and Mike DeSerto, have requested a variance from the City to put in a new well on the property at 19809 E. Grant Hwy. The well would be used for irrigation purposes only.

Alderman Matt Keenum made a motion, seconded by Alderman Mike Miller, to approve a variation request to allow for Section 25.21 of the Marengo Municipal Code, use of Water Facilities Required, for 19809 E. Grant Highway, with the new well to be used for irrigation purposes only. The aldermen voted as follows:

Aye: Mobley, Hammortree, Secor, DeBoer, Mortensen, Miller and Keenum 

Nay:

Abstain: DeSerto 

The motion passed.

b. Discussion and Direction on Draft for FY 2020/2021 Water/Sewer Fund Budget Administrator Blakemore reviewed the information on the draft for the Water/Sewer Funds budget for 2020/2021. He outlined the various areas of the possible budget and discussed a possible transfer of funds from the Debt Service Fund to the Water/Sewer Fund.

c. Discussion and Direction on Employee Compensation during COVID-19 HR Director Snelten spoke about the need to review the Employee Compensation guidelines that were implemented on April 1st as Governor Pritzker has extended the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) to April 30th, City Employees are entitled to up to 80 hours of paid sick leave, and there is concern that some of the employees could use up those 80 hours before the end of the month. She presented 3 options for the Council to consider regarding if the need for further paid leave became necessary. After reviewing those options, the Council agreed that Option #3 (a combination of 50% employer provided paid leave, and 50% employee accrued leave) would be best at this time.

The Council agreed that this option would be extended to the 10 employees that it applies to at this time, as well as those employees exempted from EPSLA (police officers, etc).

In the event a new act of Congress is enacted to approve provisions beyond what is currently in place, the new provisions would supersede the City's decisions.

MAYOR'S STATEMENT AND REPORT 

Mayor Koziol thanked all the City employees for doing their best during these trying times.

DEPARTMENT HEAD AND STAFF REPORTS 

Finance Director Jennifer Snelten noted that the month end financial report for February was included in the board packet. The March report should be available within the next 2 weeks.

Public Works Director Dan Streit advised that brush pick-up will start the week of April 27th and could be extended for an additional 2 week period. The City's mechanic for the public works department resigned on March 30th. The newly hired employee has experience in mechanic work, so he is assisting with minor repairs that are needed to the City vehicles.

Interim Chief of Police Paul Fritz announced that Officer Kjellgren was promoted today to Sergeant. They have plenty of PPE's on hand at this time.

City Administrator Joshua Blakemore noted that work on the budget is progressing nicely, and will keep the Council up to date with information from the County as it is received. The Chamber of Commerce has cancelled “Spring Fling", and will look at possibly rescheduling it for a later date. He offered his congratulations to Sergeant Kjellgren. He was advised that McHenry, County Council of Governments is donating needed protection items, which were purchased in conjunction with the Lake County Council of Government. He expressed his thanks to all the employees for their cooperation.

City Attorney David McArdle spoke briefly about information that was sent to Administrator Blakemore, and the Council, regarding the HR Green arbitration process.

REPORTS AND STATEMENTS FROM CITY COUNCIL 

Alderman Secor asked Chief Fritz about some individuals that have been getting together for impromptu basketball games and what the police are doing about these gatherings. Chief Fritz explained that when the officers approach the groups, they agree to disburse without any problem.

ADJOURNMENT 

Alderman Nicole DeBoer made a motion at 8:10 PM, seconded by Alderman Mike DeSerto, to adjourn the meeting. There were no dissenting votes, so the Clerk declared the meeting adjourned.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jTn6e8C2kEj5s67NnIGwq63KcSaAnjaCBUucCakv1f8/edit